Method and apparatus for monitoring edge bevel removal area in semiconductor apparatus and electroplating system

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor apparatus includes a transfer chamber, an annealing station, a robot arm, and an edge detector. The transfer chamber is configured to interface with an electroplating apparatus. The annealing station is arranged to anneal a wafer. The robot arm is arranged to transfer the wafer from the transfer chamber to the annealing station. The edge detector is disposed over the robot arm for the purpose of monitoring at least one portion of an edge bevel removal area of the wafer carried by the robot arm.

BACKGROUND

During the fabrication process of a wafer, forming metal lines of theintegrate circuits on the wafer is an important step in the process. Themetal lines may be formed by an electroplating process or a physicalvapor deposition (PVD) process. To increase the integration density of awafer, the useable area of the wafer is expanded to reach the very nearedge of the wafer. As a result, metal lines are also formed on the verynear edge of the wafer. However, unwanted residual metal on the waferedge should be removed by a so-called Edge Bevel Removal (EBR) process.Since the edge bevel area is adjacent to the useable area, the EBRprocess is controlled to ensure that an etchant etches the edge bevelarea without harming the useable area. After the EBR process, wafers aremonitored to determine if any abnormal wafer edge occurs. Thus, thequality of fabricated wafers is affected by the precision of themonitoring process. Moreover, the monitoring process may also affect thespeed of the fabrication process. It may thus be desirable to provide areliable and accurate monitoring method to increase the yield rate ofsemiconductor wafers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isnoted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry,various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity ofdiscussion.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an electroplating system in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an electroplating system in which aprocessing flow of a wafer is included in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating a configuration of acharge-coupled device camera, an illuminant device, and a wafer inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a real picture illustrating a portion of a wafer in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram illustrating an edge detector in asemiconductor apparatus in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a real picture illustrating a first image and a second imageof an EBR area in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a real picture illustrating a semiconductor apparatus inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for inspecting a wafer inaccordance with some embodiments. Like reference symbols in the variousdrawings indicate like elements.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, orexamples, for implementing different features of the provided subjectmatter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are describedbelow to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merelyexamples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formationof a first feature over or on a second feature in the description thatfollows may include embodiments in which the first and second featuresare formed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in whichadditional features may be formed between the first and second features,such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose ofsimplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationshipbetween the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

The making and using of the embodiments are discussed in detail below.It should be appreciated, however, that the present invention providesmany applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a widevariety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed aremerely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, anddo not limit the scope of the invention.

Further, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,”“above,” “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be usedherein for ease of description to describe one element or feature'srelationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in thefigures. The spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of the device in use or operation in addition tothe orientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus may be otherwiseoriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatiallyrelative descriptors used herein may likewise be interpretedaccordingly. It will be understood that when an element is referred toas being “connected to” or “coupled to” another element, it may bedirectly connected to or coupled to the other element, or interveningelements may be present.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an electroplating system 100 inaccordance with some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1, theelectroplating system 100 comprises a dosing apparatus 12, anelectroplating apparatus 14, and a semiconductor apparatus 16. Thedosing apparatus 102 comprises a dosing device 122, a central bathdevice 124, a filtration and pumping device 126, and a controllingdevice 128. The dosing device 122 is arranged to store and deliverchemical additives for the plating solution. The central bath device 124is arranged to hold the chemical solution used as the electroplatingbath in the electroplating apparatus 14. The filtration and pumpingdevice 126 is arranged to filter the plating solution for the centralbath device 124 and to pump the plating solution to the electroplatingapparatus 14. The controlling device 128 is arranged to provideelectronic and interface controls required to operate the electroplatingsystem 100. The controlling device 128 may include a power supply forthe electroplating system 100.

The electroplating apparatus 14 comprises a first electrofill module141, a second electrofill module 142, a third electrofill module 143, afirst post-electrofill module 144, a second post-electrofill module 145,a third post-electrofill module 146, and a robot arm 147. The firstelectrofill module 141, the second electrofill module 142, and the thirdelectrofill module 143 are arranged to electrofill a metal (e.g. copper)on a wafer. A wafer is processed by either the first electrofill module141, the second electrofill module 142, or the third electrofill module143. After a wafer is processed, either the first post-electrofillmodule 144, the second post-electrofill module 145, or the thirdpost-electrofill module 146 is arranged to perform a desired operation,such as an EBR process, backside etching, and acid cleaning, upon thewafer. In the electroplating apparatus 14, the robot arm 147 is arrangedto deliver the wafer to either the first electrofill module 141, thesecond electrofill module 142, the third electrofill module 143, thefirst post-electrofill module 144, the second post-electrofill module145, or the third post-electrofill module 146 in order to perform acorresponding operation.

The semiconductor apparatus 16 is a semiconductor front-end apparatus ofthe electroplating system 100. The semiconductor apparatus 16 may alsobe a factory interface (FI) of the electroplating system 100. Thesemiconductor apparatus 16 comprises a transfer chamber 161, anannealing station 162, a robot arm 163, and an edge detector 165. Awafer cassette 164 is also shown in FIG. 1. The robot arm 163 may be aso-called front-end robot arm. The transfer chamber 161 is configured tointerface with the electroplating apparatus 14. The transfer chamber 161comprises a transfer station 161 a and an aligner 161 b. The transferstation 161 a is a station where the robot arm 147 and the robot arm 163may pass wafers without going through the aligner 161 b. The aligner 161b, however, may be arranged to align a wafer to the robot arm 147 inorder to precision deliver the wafer to either the first electrofillmodule 141, the second electrofill module 142, or the third electrofillmodule 143 by the robot arm 147. Moreover, the aligner 161 b may also bearranged to align a post-electrofill wafer to the robot arm 163 in orderto precision deliver the post-electrofill wafer to the annealing station162 by the robot arm 163.

The annealing station 162 is arranged to anneal a post-electrofillwafer. After a wafer is processed by the electroplating apparatus 14,the robot arm 163 is arranged to transfer the wafer, i.e. thepost-electrofill wafer, from the transfer chamber 161 to the annealingstation 162. After the annealing process, the robot arm 163 is arrangedto transfer the annealed wafer to the wafer cassette 164 from theannealing station 162. The wafer cassette 164 is configured to be aninterface between the semiconductor apparatus 16 and anothersemiconductor system external to the semiconductor apparatus 16. In theembodiments, the wafer cassette 164 comprises a first cassette 164 a anda second cassette 164 b.

The edge detector 165 is disposed over or on top of the robot arm 163for the purpose of monitoring at least one portion of an edge bevelremoval (EBR) area of a wafer, e.g. the wafer 166 as shown in FIG. 1,carried by the robot arm 163. The wafer 166 is the post-electrofillwafer. More specifically, after the EBR process, the robot arm 163 iscontrolled to transfer the wafer 166 to the annealing station 162 fromthe transfer chamber 161, and the edge detector 165 is controlled tomonitor the at least one portion of the EBR area of the wafer 166 whenthe robot arm 163 is still carrying the wafer 166. According to theembodiment, the edge detector 165 is arranged to monitor the EBR area ofthe wafer 166 in real-time.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the electroplating system 100 in whicha processing flow of a wafer is included in accordance with someembodiments. The processing flow is illustrated by a series of arrowsymbols indicated by 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, and 206 respectively. Whena wafer is loaded into one of the cassettes 164 a and 164 b in the wafercassette 164, the robot arm 163 is arranged to deliver the wafer to thetransfer station 161 a of the transfer chamber 161, i.e. the arrow 201.The robot arm 163 may be configured to use a vacuum attachment techniqueto hold the wafer. It is noted that the robot arm 163 may also deliverthe wafer to the aligner 161 b if the wafer needs to be aligned with therobot arm 147.

According to the embodiments, the wafer is then delivered to the firstelectrofill module 141 by the robot arm 147, i.e. the arrow 202. It isnoted that the wafer may be delivered to either the first electrofillmodule 141, the second electrofill module 142, or the third electrofillmodule 143. In the first electrofill module 141, the wafer may beelectrofilled with a metal, such as copper. Electrolytes in the centralbath device 124 may be used to perform the electrofill process.

After the electrofill process, the wafer is delivered to the secondpost-electrofill module 145 by the robot arm 147 in order to remove theunwanted copper layer on the edge bevel region of the wafer, asindicated by an arrow 203. The unwanted copper layer may be etched awayby an etchant solution. The second post-electrofill module 145 may alsoclean, rinse, and/or dry the wafer. It is noted that the wafer may bedelivered to either the first post-electrofill module 144, the secondpost-electrofill module 145, or the third post-electrofill module 146 inorder to perform the EBR process.

When the EBR process completes, the wafer is delivered to the aligner161 b of in the transfer station 161 a from the second post-electrofillmodule 145 by the robot arm 147, as indicated by an arrow 204. It isnoted that the robot arm 147 may deliver the wafer to the transferchamber 161.

According to the embodiments, the wafer (i.e. 166) in the aligner 161 bis then delivered to the annealing station 162 by the robot arm 163, asindicated by an arrow 205. During the delivery of the wafer 166, theedge detector 165 captures an image of the at least one portion of theEBR area of the wafer 166 so as to monitor the wafer 166 in real time.More specifically, when the wafer 166 is positioned in the aligner 161b, the robot arm 163 stretches out to reach the aligner 161 b. Afterholding the wafer 166, the robot arm 163 pulls back. Then, the robot arm163 stretches out again to deliver the wafer 166 to the annealingstation 162. As shown in FIG. 2, the dotted line arrow 207 is thetransferring route of the wafer 166 delivered from the aligner 161 b tothe annealing station 162. The transferring route may be thepredetermined route set by the manufacturer of the electroplating system100. The wafer 166 will pass through a predetermined location 208 underor near the edge detector 165. When the wafer 166 reaches thepredetermined location 208, the edge detector 165 is triggered tocapture the image of the at least one portion of the EBR area of thewafer 166. It is noted that the predetermined location 208 can be anyappropriate location between the robot arm 163 and the edge detector165.

The image is directly sent to a processing device, either internal orexternal, to the electroplating system 100. The processing device isarranged to analyze the image for inspecting the EBR area of the wafer166 in real time. Moreover, the edge detector 165 may be installed inanywhere above the robot arm 163 as long as the edge detector 165 cancapture the image of the at least one portion of the EBR area of thewafer 166. It is noted that the edge detector 165 is not installed inthe transfer chamber 161.

When the annealing process in the annealing station 162 completes, therobot arm 163 delivers the annealed wafer to one of the cassettes 164 aand 164 b, as indicated by a dotted arrow 206. The annealing station 162may include a furnace. The annealed wafer in the wafer cassette 164 isthen delivered to other systems, such as a chemical mechanical polishingsystem for further processing.

According to the embodiments, the edge detector 165 comprises acharge-coupled device (CCD) camera 301 for capturing the image of the atleast one portion of the EBR area of the wafer 166 by the charge-coupledtechnique. The edge detector 165 further comprises an illuminant device302 for illuminating the at least one portion of the EBR area of thewafer 166. FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating a configurationof the CCD camera 301, the illuminant device 302, and the wafer 166 inaccordance with some embodiments. The illuminant device 302 iscontrolled to illuminate the at least one portion of the EBR area of thewafer 166 with red light, for example, when the CCD camera 301 capturesthe image of the at least one portion of the EBR area of the wafer 166.The illuminant device 302 may output oblique light to the at least oneportion of the EBR area as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a real picture illustrating a portion of the wafer 166 inaccordance with some embodiments. The portion of the wafer 166 comprisesthe active area 401 and the EBR area 402 of the wafer 166. The CCDcamera 301 is arranged to capture the image of the area in the block 403in which a portion of the active area 401 and a portion of the EBR area402 are within the block 403. Therefore, the illuminant device 302 iscontrolled to illuminate at least the area in the block 403 of the wafer166 when the CCD camera 301 captures the image in the block 403.

In addition, to precisely analyze the EBR area 402 of the wafer 166,more than one portion (e.g. two or more different portions) on the EBRarea 402 are monitored. According to the embodiments, the CCD camera 301comprises a first CCD sensor and a second CCD sensor in order to captureimages of a first portion and a second portion on the EBR area 402respectively. FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram illustrating the edgedetector 165 in the semiconductor apparatus 16 in accordance with someembodiments. The edge detector 165 comprises a first CCD sensor 501, asecond CCD sensor 502, and an illuminant device 503. The first CCDsensor 501 is arranged to capture an image of a first portion 504 of anEBR area 505 of a wafer 506. The second CCD sensor 502 is arranged tocapture an image of a second portion 507 of the EBR area 505 of thewafer 506. The first portion 504 and the second portion 507 are twodifferent portions of the EBR area 505. The first CCD sensor 501 and thesecond CCD sensor 502 are installed in two different positions above therobot arm (not shown in FIG. 5) for carrying the wafer 506 so as toclearly capture the images of first portion 504 and the second portion507. It is noted that the EBR area 505 is roughly the area near theouter boundary of the wafer 506.

The illuminant device 503 is installed substantially above in thesemiconductor apparatus 16 for the purpose of illuminating the firstportion 504 and the second portion 507 of the EBR area 505. Morespecifically, when the wafer 506 carried by the robot arm (not shown inFIG. 5) reaches the predetermined location, the illuminant device 503 isactivated to illuminate the first portion 504 and the second portion 507such that the first CCD sensor 501 and the second CCD sensor 502 canbetter capture the images of the first portion 504 and the secondportion 507, respectively. In the embodiments, the illuminant device 503illuminates the first portion 504 and the second portion 507 with a redlight. However, this is not a limitation of the embodiments. Theilluminant device 503 may illuminate other suitable back light for thefirst portion 504 and the second portion 507.

In addition, although only one illuminant device 503 is shown in FIG. 5,this is not a limitation of the embodiments. The illuminant device 503may comprise two separate illuminant devices so as to illuminate thefirst portion 504 and the second portion 507 of the EBR area 505,respectively. By doing so, the first CCD sensor 501 and the second CCDsensor 502 are more capable of capturing the images of the first portion504 and the second portion 507, respectively.

According to the embodiments, the first portion 504 and the secondportion 507 are symmetrically located on the EBR area 506. For example,when the first portion 504 is located on the rightmost area of the EBRarea 506, the second portion 507 may be located on the leftmost area ofthe EBR area 506. However, this is not a limitation of the embodiments.The first portion 504 and the second portion 507 may be any twodifferent portions on the EBR area 505 as long as the EBR area 505 ofthe wafer 506 can be successful inspected and analyzed by theabove-mentioned processing device according to the captured images.

In FIG. 5, a controlling device 508 is also shown. The controllingdevice 508 is arranged to control the operation of the first CCD sensor501, the second CCD sensor 502, and the illuminant device 503. Thecontrolling device 508 may be installed in a semiconductor apparatus(i.e. the semiconductor apparatus 16) or incorporated with theabove-mentioned controlling device 128. Alternatively, the controllingdevice 508 may be externally set up to provide control signals to anelectroplating system (i.e. the electroplating system 100).

When the images of the first portion 504 and the second portion 507 ofthe EBR area 505 are captured by the first CCD sensor 501 and the secondCCD sensor 502, respectively, the image data is transmitted to apersonal computer (PC) 509 in order to measure the widths of the EBRarea 505 in the first portion 504 and the second portion 507 of thewafer 506. The PC 509 may comprise a monitor or a screen in order todisplay, in real time, the images captured by the first CCD sensor 501and the second CCD sensor 502 together with the measured widths of theEBR area 505. The measured widths are then transmitted to a faultdetection and classification (FDC) system 510 in order to determine ifany abnormal etching edge occurs in the EBR area 505. The PC 509 maytransmit data in the form of SECS-II code to the FDC system 510.

The FDC system 510 is a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) FDCsystem capable of automatically detecting and classifying the errorsfound in the EBR area 505. When an error is found in the EBR area 505,the FDC system 510 may send an alarm signal to alert the manufacturer.Therefore, the embodiments in FIG. 5 can monitor, in real time, the EBRarea 505 of the wafer 506 in the semiconductor apparatus 16. Moreover,the FDC system 510 may collect the width of the EBR area of each waferprocessed by the electroplating apparatus (i.e. the electroplatingapparatus 14) so as to evaluate or track the performance of theelectroplating system (i.e. the electroplating system 100).

In an embodiment, the images of the first portion 504 and the secondportion 507 of the EBR area 505 captured by the first CCD sensor 501 andthe second CCD sensor 502 are in relatively high digital resolution, andthus the width of the EBR area 505 can be precisely determined. Forexample, the first CCD sensor 501 and the second CCD sensor 502 capturea full-color image of the first portion 504 and the second portion 507in order to generate the image data. In that case, the first CCD sensor501 and the second CCD sensor 502 are configured to not only sense thegrayscale information of the first portion 504 and the second portion507.

In some embodiments, the PC 509 and the FDC system 510 may be externallyset up. However, this is not a limitation of the embodiments. In otherembodiments, some of the components of the PC 509 and the FDC system 510may be installed in the semiconductor apparatus (i.e. the semiconductorapparatus 16) or incorporated with the above-mentioned controllingdevice 128.

FIG. 6 is a real picture illustrating a first image 601 and a secondimage 602 of an EBR area in accordance with some embodiments. The firstimage 601 and the second image 602 are the real-time images of the wafer506 captured by the first CCD sensor 501 (i.e. CCD1) and the second CCDsensor 502 (i.e. CCD2), respectively. The first image 601 and the secondimage 602 are displayed on the monitor of the PC 509. The first image601 shows the first portion 504 of the EBR area 505 while the secondimage 602 shows the second portion 507 of the EBR area 505. Moreover,the first image 601 shows the measured position 603 and a measured widthof approximately 2.23 mm of the EBR area 505 in the first portion 504.The second image 602 shows the measured position 604 and a measuredwidth of approximately 2.23 mm of the EBR area 505 in the second portion507. The PC 509 comprises a processing device used to automaticallydetect and measure the widths of the EBR area 505 in the first portion504 and the second portion 507. It is noted that the numerals 605 and606 in the first image 601 and the second image 602 represent theuseable areas (or active areas) of the wafer 506.

FIG. 7 is a real picture illustrating a semiconductor apparatus 700 inaccordance with some embodiments. The semiconductor apparatus 700comprises a robot arm 701, a wafer 702, a trigger device 703, a firstilluminant device 704, a second illuminant device 705, a first CCDsensor 706, and a second CCD sensor 707. It is noted that the robot arm701, the wafer 702, the first and second illuminant devices 704, 705,the first CCD sensor 706, and the second CCD sensor 707 are similar tothe above-mentioned robot arm 163, the wafer 166, the illuminant device503, the first CCD sensor 501, and the second CCD sensor 502,respectively, thus the detailed description is omitted here for brevity.In comparison with the embodiments in FIG. 5, the semiconductorapparatus 700 further comprises the trigger device 703. The triggerdevice 703 is arranged to activate the first CCD sensor 706 and thesecond CCD sensor 707 so as to capture the images of a first portion 708and a second portion 709 on the wafer 702 when the trigger device 703determines that a distance D between the trigger device 703 and therobot arm 701 reaches a predetermined distance Dp. Moreover, when thetrigger device 703 determines that the distance D between the triggerdevice 703 and the robot arm 701 is substantially equal to thepredetermined distance Dp, the trigger device 703 also activates thefirst illuminant device 704 and the second illuminant device 705 inorder to illuminate the first portion 708 and the second portion 709such that the first CCD sensor 706 and the second CCD sensor 707 canclearly capture the images of the first portion 708 and the secondportion 709, respectively. The trigger device 703 is configured to use alaser beam to determine the distance D between the trigger device 703and the robot arm 701. However, this is not a limitation of theembodiments.

According to the embodiments, when the robot arm 701 carries the wafer702 to the annealing station (not shown in FIG. 7) from the aligner (notshown in FIG. 7), and when the wafer 702 reaches the predeterminedposition where the first CCD sensor 706 and the second CCD sensor 707can clearly capture the images of the first portion 708 and the secondportion 709, respectively, the distance D between the trigger device 703and the robot arm 701 is the predetermined distance Dp. For example, thepredetermined position may be a position where the first portion 708 andthe second portion 709 are right below the first CCD sensor 706 and thesecond CCD sensor 707, respectively. Therefore, once the trigger device703 detects that the distance D is the predetermined distance Dp, thetrigger device 703 activates the first illuminant device 704, the secondilluminant device 705, the first CCD sensor 706, and the second CCDsensor 707. It is noted that the first illuminant device 704 and thesecond illuminant device 705 may be activated slightly earlier than thefirst CCD sensor 706 and the second CCD sensor 707. After the first CCDsensor 706 and the second CCD sensor 707 capture the images of the firstportion 708 and the second portion 709, respectively, the firstilluminant device 704 and the second illuminant device 705 may be turnedoff until the next wafer reaches the predetermined position.

In some embodiments, the transferring route (e.g. the dotted line arrow207 in FIG. 2) of the wafer 702 delivered from the aligner to theannealing station is the predetermined route set by the manufacturer ofthe semiconductor apparatus 700. Moreover, the first CCD sensor 706 andthe second CCD sensor 707 are installed above the predetermined route soas to capture the images of the first portion 708 and the second portion709, respectively, when the wafer 702 passes a predetermined position onthe predetermined route. Therefore, the operation of capturing theimages of the first portion 708 and the second portion 709 does notdelay the preset speed of the robot arm 701, and the present embodimentsdo not impact the wafer throughput of the electroplating system.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 800 for inspecting awafer in accordance with some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 8, inoperation 802, a wafer is transferred to an annealing station from atransfer chamber by a front-end robot arm.

In operation 804, a distance between a trigger device and the front-endrobot arm is detected. If the distance is a predetermined distance,meaning that the wafer reaches a predetermined location, then the method800 goes to operation 806. If the distance is not the predetermineddistance, meaning that the wafer does not reach the predeterminedlocation, then the method 800 goes back to operation 804.

In operation 806, a first illuminant device and a second illuminantdevice are activated to illuminate a first portion and a second portionof an EBR area of the wafer respectively.

In operation 808, a first CCD sensor and a second CCD sensor areactivated to capture the images of the illuminated first and secondportions.

In operation 810, the images of the first portions and the secondportions together with the measured widths of the corresponding EBRareas are displayed on a PC in real time.

In operation 812, the measured widths corresponding to the wafer aretransmitted to an FDC system to determine if any abnormal etching edgeoccurs in the EBR area. The operation of method 800 can be referred tothe operation of the embodiments as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 5,and/or FIG. 7, wherein the detailed description of the method 800 isomitted here for brevity.

Briefly, according to the embodiments, the edge detector is installedabove a robot arm in the semiconductor apparatus in order to capture theimages of the EBR area when the robot arm transfers the wafer to theannealing station from the transfer station. Thus, the edge detectordoes not impact the wafer throughput of the electroplating system. Inaddition, the edge detector uses a CCD camera(s) to capture the imagesof the EBR area illuminated by an illuminant device. The captured imagesare processed and analyzed by a computer to detect, in real-time, theabnormal width of the EBR area. Moreover, when the EBR area is capturedby the CCD camera, the captured image can be in high digital resolution,and thus the width of the EBR area can be precisely determined to reducethe false alarm rate.

In some embodiments, a semiconductor apparatus includes a transferchamber, an annealing station, a robot arm, and an edge detector. Thetransfer chamber is configured to interface with an electroplatingapparatus. The annealing station is arranged to anneal a wafer. Therobot arm is arranged to transfer the wafer from the transfer chamber tothe annealing station. The edge detector is disposed over the robot armfor the purpose of monitoring at least one portion of an edge bevelremoval area of the wafer carried by the robot arm.

In some embodiments, a method for inspecting a wafer includes:transferring the wafer from a transfer chamber to an annealing stationby a robot arm; and monitoring at least one portion of an edge bevelremoval area of the wafer over the robot arm when the wafer istransferred from the transfer chamber to the annealing station.

In some embodiments, an electroplating system includes an electroplatingapparatus and a semiconductor apparatus. The electroplating apparatus isarranged to electroplate a wafer. The semiconductor apparatus includes atransfer chamber, an annealing station, a robot arm, and an edgedetector. The transfer chamber is arranged to interface with theelectroplating apparatus. The annealing station is arranged to annealthe wafer. The robot arm is arranged to transfer the wafer from thetransfer chamber to the annealing station. The edge detector is disposedover the robot arm for the purpose of monitoring at least one portion ofan edge bevel removal area of the wafer carried by the robot arm.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor apparatus, comprising: a transferchamber, configured to interface with an electroplating apparatus; anannealing station, arranged to anneal a wafer; a robot arm, arranged totransfer the wafer from the transfer chamber to the annealing station;and an edge detector, disposed over the robot arm, for monitoring atleast one portion of an edge bevel removal area of the wafer carried bythe robot arm.
 2. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 1, wherein theedge detector comprises: an illuminant device, arranged to illuminatethe at least one portion of the edge bevel removal area.
 3. Thesemiconductor apparatus of claim 1, wherein the edge detector comprisesa charge-coupled device (CCD) camera for capturing an image of the atleast one portion of the edge bevel removal area.
 4. The semiconductorapparatus of claim 3, wherein the CCD camera captures the image of theat least one portion of the edge bevel removal area when the wafercarried by the robot arm reaches a predetermined location.
 5. Thesemiconductor apparatus of claim 4, wherein the predetermined locationis on a transferring route of the wafer between the transfer chamber andthe annealing station.
 6. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 3,wherein the edge detector further comprises: a trigger device, arrangedto activate the CCD camera in order to capture the image of the at leastone portion when the trigger device determines that a distance betweenthe trigger device and the robot arm is equal to a predetermineddistance.
 7. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 6, wherein when thewafer is transferred from the transfer chamber to the annealing station,the trigger device is activated to determine if the distance between thetrigger device and the robot arm is equal to the predetermined distance.8. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least oneportion of the edge bevel removal area comprises a first portion and asecond portion different from the first portion, and the CCD cameracomprises: a first CCD sensor, arranged to capture an image of the firstportion of the edge bevel removal area of the wafer; and a second CCDsensor, arranged to capture an image of the second portion of the edgebevel removal area of the wafer.
 9. The semiconductor apparatus of claim8, wherein the first portion and the second portion are symmetricallylocated on the edge bevel removal area.
 10. The semiconductor apparatusof claim 8, wherein the edge detector further comprises: a firstilluminant device, arranged to illuminate the first portion of the edgebevel removal area; and a second illuminant device, arranged toilluminate the second portion of the edge bevel removal area.
 11. Amethod for inspecting a wafer, the method comprising: transferring thewafer from a transfer chamber to an annealing station by a robot arm;and monitoring at least one portion of an edge bevel removal area of thewafer over the robot arm when the wafer is transferred from the transferchamber to the annealing station.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: illuminating the at least one portion of the edge bevelremoval area.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein monitoring the atleast one portion of the edge bevel removal area comprises: using acharge-coupled device (CCD) camera to capture an image of the at leastone portion of the edge bevel removal area; and analyzing the image. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein monitoring the at least one portion ofthe edge bevel removal area further comprises: capturing the image ofthe at least one portion of the edge bevel removal area when the wafercarried by the robot arm reaches a predetermined location.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the at least one portion of the edge bevelremoval area comprises a first portion and a second portion differentfrom the first portion, and using the CCD camera to capture the image ofthe at least one portion comprises: using a first CCD sensor to capturean image of the first portion of the edge bevel removal area of thewafer; and using a second CCD sensor to capture an image of the secondportion of the edge bevel removal area of the wafer.
 16. Anelectroplating system, comprising: an electroplating apparatus, arrangedto electroplate a wafer; and a semiconductor apparatus, comprising: atransfer chamber, arranged to interface with the electroplatingapparatus; an annealing station, arranged to anneal the wafer; a robotarm, arranged to transfer the wafer from the transfer chamber to theannealing station; and an edge detector, disposed over the robot arm formonitoring at least one portion of an edge bevel removal area of thewafer carried by the robot arm.
 17. The electroplating system of claim16, wherein the edge detector comprises: an illuminant device, arrangedto illuminate the at least one portion of the edge bevel removal area.18. The electroplating system of claim 16, wherein the edge detectorcomprises a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera for capturing an image ofthe at least one portion of the edge bevel removal area, and theelectroplating system further comprises: a processing device, arrangedto analyze the image for inspecting the edge bevel removal area.
 19. Theelectroplating system of claim 18, wherein the edge detector furthercomprises: a trigger device, arranged to activate the CCD camera inorder to capture the image of the at least one portion when the triggerdevice determines that a distance between the trigger device and therobot arm is equal to a predetermined distance.
 20. The electroplatingsystem of claim 18, wherein the at least one portion of the edge bevelremoval area comprises a first portion and a second portion differentfrom the first portion, and the CCD camera comprises: a first CCDsensor, arranged to capture an image of the first portion of the edgebevel removal area of the wafer; and a second CCD sensor, arranged tocapture an image of the second portion of the edge bevel removal area ofthe wafer.